Mansion Global’s daily round-up of the latest luxury real estate news from around the world

The Chinese city with the fastest-growing property prices isn’t Beijing or Shanghai, but Guangzhou, China’s third-largest city and a port town on the Pearl River located 75 miles north of Hong Kong. Read More

We spoke to Jenny Dina Kirschner, founder of JDK Interiors, about how one apartment has stayed with her forever, what surprises her about what luxury buyers are willing to pay for, and more. Read More

NEWS BITES

China Will Increase Rental Housing by Allowing Building in Rural Areas
China’s Land Ministry has announced a pilot program for building rental housing in rural areas of major cities as part of ongoing efforts to address a chronic housing shortage. The program will allow construction in formerly off-limits areas outside of 13 cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, in hopes of creating more affordable rental options in an over-priced, highly competitive market. Reuters

Canadian Banks Remain Confident About Mortgage Portfolios in Spite of Market Curbs
Officials at major Canadian banks are issuing assurances of the strength of their mortgage portfolios, in spite of strict government curbs on housing transactions, and dropping prices in big cities, as well as a slowdown in transactions. Executives from Royal Bank of Canada and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce both made statements last week emphasizing the stability of their respective housing portfolios, and officials from the other major banks are expected to do the same. However, with prices dropping and Canadians largely over-leveraged for their homes, David Madana of Toronto’s Capital Economics noted, “Everyone agrees it’s a bubble; now the question is, how it ends.”Financial Times

Buy A Marcel Breuer-Designed Home for $1.6 Million
An Orange, Connecticut, home designed by famed architect Marcel Breuer has hit the market for $1.6 million. Though Breuer is known for more austere designs such as the Upper East Side’s Met Breuer (formerly the Whitney Museum of Art), this cozy, 4,000-square-foot 1950s property is a change of pace and full of midcentury charm, as well as an impressive collection of art and sculptures both inside the home and throughout the 5.5-acre property.The Real Deal

U.S. Homeowners Are Rushing to Add Bomb Shelters
Amid ongoing nuclear tensions with North Korea, U.S. bomb shelter manufacturers are reporting a significant spike in consumer interest. One California-based shelter company expects to sell 1,000 shelters by the end of the year. “The increase in demand is everywhere. We are getting of hundreds of calls. We are back in the 1960s again,” the company’s owner Ron Hubbard said. Prices for shelters can range anywhere from $25,000 to $120,000, depending on the size and features.Miami Herald

AROUND NEWS CORP

More Than Half of Houston’s Flood-Prone Properties Aren’t in Areas That Require Insurance: CoreLogic [MarketWatch]